Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 270

Anxious Waiting

Because there were so many people, the tents, tianmu¹, and such were set up in no time. However, for the task of starting the fire, it still had to be the two chefs, Sun Miao and Jiang Ping, plus the cat owner at most.

Among everyone here, counting them one by one, they were all masters whose “ten fingers did not touch the spring water”². Yuan Xiangyi might have known how to start a fire when she was little, but after so many years, she had truly forgotten. Fortunately, Sun Miao and Jiang Ping were old hands at starting fires, and the cat owner was there to assist.

One large and two small bonfires were soon blazing.

Everyone didn’t stay idle while Sun Miao started the fire; they worked very consciously. Those moving tables moved tables, those distributing cutlery distributed cutlery. Only Su Ruixi sat on a chair brought over by Hip-Hop Mei, perfectly composed with her arms crossed, acting just like the Lao Foye³, not moving an inch.

But it was as if everyone tacitly accepted Su Ruixi’s special treatment; no one intended to make her get up.

Especially Hip-Hop Mei. To make amends, she busied herself around Su Ruixi like a xiaomei⁴. One moment asking: “Su-jie, are you cold? Do you want me to get you a blanket?” The next moment asking: “Su-jie are you thirsty? Do you want a sip of water? I brought drinks too; it’s the freshly squeezed orange juice we made this afternoon.”

This group of regular customers was used to it, as there were those like the Lemon Tea Boss who already knew about the couple’s relationship. They felt Su Ruixi had the qualification to be angry: the young couple was on a date, and on the Mid-Autumn Festival⁵ no less. Since they had come over and interrupted, how could she not be angry? Then there were those like Yuan Xiangyi or Zhou Ling’s mother, who knew their relationship was deep and that they were the best of friends; under these circumstances, they also felt it was only right for her to be angry.

Even those who knew nothing whatsoever should realize that for two people to come out to play alone during the October 1st holiday⁶, their relationship must be very good. So if she’s angry, what could they possibly say?

When Sun Miao turned back to get the lamb chops and saw Su Ruixi looking like “the old god was present”⁷, she felt much more at ease. She first skewered the lamb chops onto a fork, then placed them over that large bonfire to roast, speaking to Su Ruixi with particular confidence: “Susu-jie, keep an eye on this. Call me when it needs turning. I’m estimating the time and will come over to check in a bit.”

After saying this, she ran off to set up the grill for the skewers. There were many people today, so they couldn’t rely entirely on the bonfire like last time, or else who knew when they’d get to eat.

Watching Sun Miao’s retreating figure, Su Ruixi’s eyes widened: No, does Sun Miao actually think she can do this? She can’t distinguish it at all!

However, before Su Ruixi could speak, Hip-Hop Mei next to her directly “propped her up”⁸: “Su-jie, you’re so amazing! We haven’t seen you for a while, and now you can judge the state of lamb chops! Then again, Su-jie is with Little Boss Sun every day. With those conditions of ‘ears dyed and eyes stained’⁹, you must have learned a lot of things!”

If anyone else said this, Su Ruixi would think they were mocking her with “strange air of yin and yang”¹⁰.

But coming from Hip-Hop Mei, Su Ruixi understood that this guy was being sincere. Especially since she looked right into Su Ruixi’s eyes when she said it; that sincerity was practically rushing out of her eyes.

Su Ruixi was a person with very high standards for herself.

Moreover, the other person was Hip-Hop Mei, the Hip-Hop Mei who had followed behind her butt like a xiaomei since childhood. If she admitted she couldn’t do it in front of her, wouldn’t her lifetime reputation be completely ruined?! As an aojiao¹¹, how could Su Ruixi let such a thing happen?

So she lifted her chin and nodded slowly: “En.”

Yabi Mei, however, had “Fire Eyes Gold Pupils”¹² and spotted the distress and awkwardness Su Ruixi was hiding. She quickly realized: Actually, Su Ruixi doesn’t understand heat control either. If she’s left to tend the roast lamb chops, they’ll burn sooner or later. Yabi Mei put down her phone and, while Hip-Hop Mei was circling around Su Ruixi, went to the side to chat with some people for a moment.

Shortly after, Yabi Mei returned with two people. These two were: Yuan Xiangyi and the Lemon Tea Boss.

As a restaurant owner, even if Yuan Xiangyi couldn’t cook, she had watched Jiang Ping do it, so she was definitely more reliable than the few of them whose “ten fingers did not touch the spring water”; as for the Lemon Tea Boss, during chats at the stall earlier, it was heard that she lived with the cat owner, and the Lemon Tea Boss usually made breakfast and dinner herself.

Under these circumstances, managing to pull in two people who knew how to cook and watch a fire was pretty good.

Those two greeted Su Ruixi, then moved small chairs to sit nearby, keeping their eyes on the fire while chatting.

Su Ruixi also knew why Yabi Mei had brought them over, but none of them said a word, reaching a consensus in silence. Seeing Su Ruixi’s very satisfied gaze directed at her, Yabi Mei was also quite pleased with herself: Currying favor with Su Ruixi invisibly—it’s just that simple.

Su Ruixi, meanwhile, was thinking: Well done. Sun Miao treating them to those two meals wasn’t a waste.

As for Hip-Hop Mei… she could really just go cool off wherever.

Over where Sun Miao was grilling, she had help too. Jiang Ping stayed by Sun Miao’s side the whole time, refusing to miss a single one of Sun Miao’s movements. Although Jiang Ping didn’t really do barbecue, the control of heat was universal, so learning a bit along the way was never wrong.

It’s just that while cooking, neither of them stopped observing the others. Sun Miao spotted a dangerous action by one of the regular customers at a glance, asked Jiang Ping to take over her grilling, and walked over there.

Seeing Sun Miao approach, Zhou Ling’s mother’s xiaojiemei¹³ was quite happy: “Little Boss Sun, coming to see me? We’re just cooking a sukiyaki pot, something casual to eat. Do you want to taste it in a bit?”

Sun Miao still had a smile on her face, but her actions didn’t stop: “Hold on a second, let me turn off the fire first.”

Zhou Ling’s mother’s xiaojiemei was completely confused, but she trusted Sun Miao very much, so she stood aside without speaking and watched Sun Miao’s actions. Sun Miao nimbly turned off the portable cassette stove¹⁴, grabbed a glove to lift the sukiyaki pot, and set it aside: “Let’s take this over there to cook later.”

Sun Miao pointed to one of the slightly smaller bonfires nearby, where quite a few people were roasting sweet potatoes and potatoes. Hearing Sun Miao’s words, Zhou Ling’s mother’s xiaojiemei was still a bit puzzled, so Sun Miao simply gave her a science lesson.

“You cannot put a pot larger than the stove itself on a portable cassette stove. Generally, you use a pot slightly smaller than the stove, or just foil containers. Using a pot larger than the stove is very dangerous; there have been many explosion accidents caused by this exact reason.”

“If you use a pot larger than the cassette stove, the heat will travel along the pot to the vicinity of the gas canister. As the heat rises, the air pressure inside the cassette stove also continues to rise, creating a huge risk of explosion.”

Zhou Ling, Zhou Ling’s mother, plus her xiaojiemei made three people in total, so the pot they prepared was also a slightly larger one meant for 3-4 people. This pot was already much larger than the burner of the cassette stove, which was why Sun Miao came over to put an immediate stop to it.

Hearing Sun Miao’s words, Zhou Ling’s mother’s xiaojiemei finally showed a look of sudden realization: “So that’s how it is.” She patted her chest in lingering fear: “It’s a good thing you told me, Little Boss Sun. I didn’t know any of this. With these things, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Thank you so much.”

The other customers around them only realized at this moment that such a thing existed; they hadn’t paid attention to it when they went out for barbecues before.

Someone also expressed affirmation: “It really is like that. I saw news before about people being injured by exploding cassette stoves, but in real life, it’s hard to connect it to yourself, and you forget when using them. Now that Little Boss Sun reminded someone, I just remembered.”

Sun Miao pointed out a few more safety hazards before going back to continue grilling.

Sun Miao first grilled enough to fill two large basins. After sprinkling them with seasoning, she took them to the table in the very center, then took out the snow skin mooncakes¹⁵ stored in the car refrigerator, and called everyone over to eat together. By this time, the items everyone had prepared themselves were also moved onto the table.

There were those who had prepared hot pots like sukiyaki, similar to Zhou Ling’s mother’s xiaojiemei; there were those who bought some snacks; and there were even some who had packed dishes directly from a braised food shop. Pairing these with the barbecue made by Sun Miao at this moment was simply one of life’s great joys.

The first to start eating was definitely Su Ruixi, but she didn’t just look after her own eating. She tightened the square scarf draped over her shoulders, took about five or six skewers in her hand, and walked to Sun Miao’s side. Sun Miao was still grilling and didn’t have a free hand to take them. Su Ruixi held them directly up to her face; as soon as Sun Miao lowered her head, she could see the glistening, oily lamb skewers she had grilled herself.

She smiled and said, “Thank you, Susu-jie,” then lowered her head and took a bite of the lamb skewer right from Su Ruixi’s hand.

Only after Su Ruixi finished feeding her one skewer did she eat one herself.

Only after she took the skewers and left did the other regular customers start eating. Once Su Ruixi walked away, they charged at the skewers in front of them like hungry tigers pouncing on prey. Although Sun Miao had grilled two large platters, there were many people. With three skewers per person, they would hit the bottom; with “too many monks and too little gruel”¹⁶, they had to rely on snatching.

Hip-Hop Mei had abundant experience in snatching food, while Yabi Mei was more reserved and cared more about face. But at a time like this, being reserved and caring about face equaled going hungry. But fortunately, Hip-Hop Mei lived up to being Yabi Mei’s good guigui¹⁷; she didn’t forget Yabi Mei while snatching lamb skewers, stubbornly saving two skewers from her own hand for Yabi Mei.

Hip-Hop Mei truly felt that these lamb skewers were so delicious! They were even tastier than what Sun Miao usually made!

Perhaps it was because of the scenery—rolling yellow sands under the dark night—eating roast lamb skewers in this atmosphere had more feeling. Perhaps it was because of the people around her, because there were people fighting her for it, making the meat she had snatched with such difficulty seem even more delicious. Perhaps Sun Miao’s skills had improved again… In short, this bite of lamb skewer left Hip-Hop Mei completely satisfied.

However, after finishing the lamb skewers, Hip-Hop Mei’s gaze toward the roasting lamb chops became even more craving. If the lamb skewers were this good, how amazing would the roast lamb chops be? She could hear the rich fat from the roast lamb chops dripping into the fire, making crackling sounds. She could also smell just how enchanting the fragrance drifting on the wind was.

After finishing the skewers in her hand, she looked at Sun Miao grilling one moment, then looked at the roasting lamb chops the next, and still had to wonder: Where is the Dapanji¹⁸ Little Boss Sun prepared? Today I’ve only smelled it but haven’t seen the real thing. The one we ate at noon didn’t count at all; I still want to eat what Sun Miao makes.

Dying of craving, waiting online, so urgent.

This wasn’t just Hip-Hop Mei’s thought alone; it was the shared thought of everyone present.

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